Page:Sewell Dikshit The Indian Calendar (1896) proc.djvu/39

an amṛita siddhiyoga. In the pañchâṅg extract (Art. 30) given above there is an amṛita siddhiyoga on the 2nd, 5th and 18th of September. It is considered an auspicious yoga, while some yogas are inauspicious.

40. Karaṇas. A karaṇa being half a tithi, there are 60 karaṇas in a lunar month. There are seven karaṇas in a series of eight cycles—total 56—every month, from the second half of śukla pratipadâ (1st) up to the end of the first half of kṛishṇa chaturdaśî (14th). The other four karaṇas are respectively from the second half of kṛishṇa chaturdaśî (14th) to the end of the first half of śukla pratipadâ.^[1]

Table VIII., col. 4, gives the serial numbers and names of karaṇas for the first half, and col. 5 for the second half, of each tithi.

40a. Eclipses. Eclipses of the sun and moon play an important part in inscriptions, since, according to ancient Indian ideas, the value of a royal grant was greatly enhanced by its being made on the occasion of such a phenomenon; and thus it often becomes essential that the moments of their occurrence should be accurately ascertained. The inscription mentions a date, and an eclipse as occurring on that date. Obviously we shall be greatly assisted in the determination of the genuineness of the inscription if we can find out whether such was actually the case. Up to the present the best list of eclipses procurable has been that published by Oppolzer in his "Canon der Finsternisse" (Denkschriften der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften. Vienna, Vol. LII.), but this concerns the whole of our globe, not merely a portion like India; the standard meridian is that of Greenwich, requiring correction for longitude; and the accompanying maps are on too small a scale to be useful except as affording an approximation from which details can be worked out. Our object is to save our readers from the necessity of working out such complicated problems. Prof. Jacobi's Tables in the Indian Antiquary (Vol. XVII.) and Epigraphia Indica (Vol. II.) afford considerable help, but do not entirely meet the requirements of the situation. Dr. Schram's contribution to this volume, and the lists prepared by him, give the dates of all eclipses in India and the amount of obscuration observable at any place. His article speaks for itself, but we think it will be well be add a few notes.

Prof. Jacobi writes (Epig. Ind., II., p. 422):—"The eclipses mentioned in inscriptions are not always actually observed eclipses, but calculated ones. My reasons for this opinion are the following: Firstly, eclipses are auspicious moments, when donations, such as are usually recorded in inscriptions, are particularly meritorious. They were therefore probably selected for such occasions, and must accordingly have been calculated beforehand. No doubt they were entered in pañchâṅgs or almanacs in former times as they are now. Secondly, even larger eclipses of the sun, up to seven digits, pass unobserved by common people, and smaller ones are only visible under favourable circumstances. Thirdly, the Hindus place implicit trust in their Śâstras, and would not think it necessary to test their calculations by actual observation. The writers of inscriptions would therefore mention an eclipse if they found one predicted in their almanacs."

Our general Table will occasionally be found of use. Thus a lunar eclipse can only occur at the time of full moon (pûrṇimâ), and can only be visible when the moon is above the horizon at the place of the observer; so that when the pûrṇimâ is found by our Tables to occur during most part of the daytime there can be no visible eclipse. But it is possibly visible if the pûrṇimâ is found, on any given meridian, to end within 4 ghaṭikâs after sunrise, or within 4 ghaṭikâs before sunset. A solar eclipse occurs only on an amâvâsyâ or new moon day. If